Shadow Kiss DPOV
by KadyAngel
Summary: Shadow Kiss Dimitri's Point of View.  Nothing else to add here.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's Shadow Kiss DPOV, chapter one. I am hyped up on Monster at the moment… woot**

**Suggestions or criticism let me know.**

IT WAS MY WATCH and I didn't want to be outside. It was freezing, and I shivered, throwing my coat on as I walked into the freezing cold.

I had just left Rose's building, and the Moroi man sitting at the desk wasn't very effective at watching. Rose could have snuck out if she'd had the urge. He had been looking through magazines, fighting off the boredom, and trying not to fall asleep.

Something made me turn back, and I saw Rose sneak out of her building, and shut the door.

I watched her hold her robe to her, and walk around the building somewhere that there wasn't as much snow and wind.

She looked deep in thought, and cold. She was wearing slippers, which were soaked through, and she was shivering.

"Are you sleepwalking?" I asked as I walked up behind her. I knew she wasn't. But I wasn't going to pressure her into telling me anything.

She whirled around, and saw me. She ran one of her hands through her hair. She was always so concerned about her appearance, especially around me.

I always thought she was beautiful. No matter what.

I scolded myself for the thought, she was my student.

"I was testing dorm security," Rose tried. "It sucks."

I almost smiled at that, and I saw her repress a shiver. She looked at my coat, longingly.

I sighed mentally. "You must be freezing. Do you want my coat?"

She shook her head, trying to be strong. "I'm fine. What are you doing out here? Are you testing security too?"

"I _am _security. This is my watch," I told her.

"Well, good work," Rose said. "I'm glad I was able to help test your awesome skills. I should be going now."

"Rose—" I put my hand on her arm, not wanting her to leave. There was another reason she was out here, and I was determined to find out what it was. So when I spoke, I put a tone in my voice that made me sound more like her mentor than her friend. "What are you really doing out here?"

She debated in her head for a moment, and then looked at me, answering my question. "I had a bad dream. I wanted some air."

"And so you just rushed out. Breaking the rules didn't even cross your mind—and

neither did putting on a coat." I resisted the urge to sigh.

"Yeah," she said, nodding her head. "That pretty much sums it up."

"Rose, Rose." I was slightly exasperated by her rash behavior. Just jumping into whatever she wanted to do. Such as running outside without a coat. She didn't think about these things first, and that was a mistake she shouldn't make, especially not once she was a guardian. "You never change. Always jumping in without thinking."

"That's not true," Rose protested. "I've changed a lot."

The half smile on my face died. She had changed. A lot. Since Spokane, she wasn't the same. She was more adult, I thought as I looked at her. She had seen her best friend die in front of her. One of her best friends, anyway. He had been killed for her. And that had changed her forever. And the fact that she had made her first two kills. That always changed a person. She wasn't as carefree. She was even more devoted to Lissa than ever before. More devoted to her duty and protecting Moroi. I remembered how my first kills had affected me. Rose was darker, and less happy. She blamed herself. "You're right. You have changed."

"Well, don't worry. My birthday's coming up. As soon as I'm eighteen, I'll be an adult, right? I'm sure I'll wake up that morning and be all mature and stuff."

The frown on my face turned into a smile, at her ability to joke, no matter how down she was. "Yes, I'm sure. What is it, about a month?"

"Thirty-one days," Rose smiled.

"Not that you're counting."

Rose shrugged, and I laughed.

"I suppose you've made a birthday list too. Ten pages? Single-spaced? Ranked by order of priority?" I smiled wider, and waited for her response.

She didn't say anything for a moment. When she did, her voice was weak. "No," she said in a small voice. "No list."

I tilted my head, and some of my hair blew into my face. I brushed it away, and it blew back, so I ignored it. "I can't believe you don't want anything. It's going to be a boring birthday."

There was something she was hiding from me, something I wasn't getting.

"It doesn't matter," Rose said.

"What do you—" then it clicked in my mind. Me. She wanted to be able to be with me. That's what I wanted too, but I knew it would never happen. It couldn't happen. We couldn't distract each other from Lissa. From our charge.

The feelings would probably never go away. But we could push them to the backs of our mind, which wasn't easy. It wasn't what I wanted to do. It wasn't what she wanted to do, but it was what we had to do.

Finally, I said, "You can deny it all you want, but I know you're freezing. Let's go inside. I'll take you in through the back."

"I think you're the one who's cold," Rose joked as I led her to her room."Shouldn't you be all tough and stuff, since you're from Siberia?"

I rolled my eyes, when she wasn't looking. She had a twisted idea of Siberia. She thought it was an arctic wasteland. "I don't think Siberia's exactly what you imagine."

"I imagine it as an arctic wasteland," Rose said.

"Then it's definitely not what you imagine."

"Do you miss it?" Rose looked at me. I was walking behind her.

"All the time," I told her truthfully. She made me say more than I wanted. I was honest with her. "Sometimes I wish—"

"Belikov!"

I pushed her further around the corner. "Stay out of sight."

"You're not on watch," I said to Alberta, who had come up to me.

"No, but I needed to talk to you." Alberta said. "It'll just take a minute. We need to shuffle some of the watches while you're at the trial."

"I figured," I said, trying to act normal. But Rose was listening, and I didn't want her hearing about this. There was nothing else I could do, and I didn't want her asking for details and getting pissed. "It's going to put a strain on everyone else—bad timing."

"Yes, well, the queen runs on her own schedule." Alberta was frustrated and so was I."Celeste will take your watches, and she and Emil will divide up your training times. They say they don't mind the extra work, but I was wondering if you could even things out and take some of their shifts before you leave?"

"Absolutely," I said, trying to tell her to be quiet. She didn't catch on.

"Thanks. I think that'll help." Alberta sighed. "I wish I knew how long this trial was

going to be. I don't want to be away that long. You'd think it'd be a done deal with

Dashkov, but now I hear the queen's getting cold feet about imprisoning a major royal."

Oh, shit! Rose had heard, and I knew she'd be pissed. Majorly pissed at me.

"I'm sure they'll do the right thing," I said, tone clipped and short.

"I hope so. And I hope it'll only take a few days, like they claim. Look, it's

miserable out here. Would you mind coming into the office for a second to look at the

schedule?"

"Sure. Let me check on something first."

"All right. See you soon."

Alberta walked away, and I turned to Rose. I knew what was coming. "Rose—"

"Dashkov?" Rose's voice was low, threatening. "As in Victor Dashkov?"

There was no point in trying to deny it. She had heard too much, and she knew. "Yes. Victor Dashkov."

"And you guys were talking about…Do you mean…I thought he was locked up! Are you saying he hasn't been on trial yet?"

Rose looked like she was going to punch someone. I suddenly felt exhausted. I didn't want to deal with Rose's questions. I didn't want her to know that someone who had hurt her and Lissa so badly had a shot of walking free.

I sighed. "He's been locked up—but no, no trial yet. Legal proceedings sometimes take a long time."

"But there's going to be a trial now? And you're going?" Rose looked furious, and her teeth were clenched.

"Next week. They need me and some of the other guardians to testify about what happened to you and Lissa that night." I frowned, remembering the night all too well. Four months ago. It seemed like an eternity.

"Call me crazy for asking this, but, um, are Lissa and I going with you?" Rose looked at me, and I knew she knew what I would say.

"No."

"No?"

"No." I verified.

Rose's hands went to her hips, where they always went when she was angry, and trying to stand her ground. "Look, doesn't it seem reasonable that if you're going to talk about what happened to _us, _then you should have _us _there?"

I shook my head. "The queen and some of the other guardians thought it'd be best if you didn't go. There's enough evidence between the rest of us, and besides, criminal or not, he is—or was—one of the most powerful royals in the world. Those who know about this trial want to keep it quiet."

"So, what, you thought if you brought us, we'd tell everyone?" Rose's voice was getting louder. "Come on, comrade. You really think we'd do that? The only thing we want is to see

Victor locked up. Forever. Maybe longer. And if there's a chance he might walk free, you

have to let us go."

"It's not my decision to make," I told her. I had tried to make it so she and Lissa could go. But everyone had said no… and loudly. Everyone knew that Rose had a big mouth, but I knew that she could keep it shut if she was told to do so. If it had to do with Lissa's safety. If it was important. But everyone was convinced that she would let it slip. She had done this to herself, with her remarks.

She was afraid he would walk free. I was too. I didn't want him to walk free, and would do everything in my power to make sure he didn't.

Rose spoke again. "But you have influence. You could speak up for us, especially if… Especially if there really is a chance he might get off. Is there? Is there really a chance the queen could let him go?"

"I don't know. There's no telling what she or some of the other high-up royals will

do sometimes." I said honestly, and then retrieved my keys from my pocket. "Look, I know you're upset, but we can't talk about it now. I have to go meet Alberta, and you need to get inside. The square key will let you in the far side door. You know the one."

She sighed, and turned. "Yeah. Thanks."

She took a few steps, and I called out to her. Rose? I'm sorry," I said when she turned back. "And you'd better bring the keys back tomorrow."

She walked away, and I went to meet Alberta. I knew that she had wanted to go to the trial, to screw over the man that had hurt her, but I had already done everything I could. There was nothing more that I could do for her.

They didn't want to take Lissa without taking Rose. They were afraid that Lissa couldn't handle it all without Rose. But they wouldn't take Rose, because everyone thought she would say something about the trial. I knew she wouldn't and had tried to convince them, but they wouldn't believe me.

I reached Alberta's office and walked in.

"Rose heard?" she looked up from the papers. She knew I had feelings for Rose, and that Rose returned those feelings. She had faith in Rose, like I did.

"Yes. She did," I sighed.

"I didn't realize… I'm sorry, Belikov. It's got to be hard for her, for you."  
"It is. She wants to go."

Alberta bit her lip. "I tried to convince Kirova, but everyone is standing their ground. I tried, you tried, but it's not good enough."  
"I know. Thank you for trying. Now the schedule…"

"Right, about the schedule…"

**Chapter one of Shadow Kiss DPOV is DONE! Whoo! Music suggestions? I'd appreciate them.**

**By the way, I'm pretty sure I probably put the word 'trail' in instead of 'trial' in a few places, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix them… so… yep.**

**What did you think? **

**Review please! It makes me happy! So do music suggestions!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, chapter two is here.**

**Twitter me! KatrynaWilliams.**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

**Review please.**

The rest of the night passed in an easy blur. I fell asleep, and woke up to give assignments for the field assignment. Rose would not be happy with hers, to say the least.

I couldn't stop thinking about Rose.

I showered and dressed, and walked to the gym, where students were piling in.

Guardians stood in a line in front of them. I took my place.

The students were chattering away, until Alberta stood in front of them. They became silent.

"All right," Alberta called. "You all know why you're here." Her voice echoed throughout the gym. It was oddly quiet, because of the excitement, I assumed. "This is the most important day of your education before you take your final trials. Today you will find out which Moroi you've been placed with. Last week, you were given a booklet with the full details of how the next six weeks will play out. I trust you've all read it by now. Just to recap, Guardian Alto will highlight the main rules of this exercise."

Stan took the clipboard Alberta handed to him.

He grunted and walked to the front of the students, who were waiting in anticipation of what their charge would be. "Here we go. You'll be on duty six days a week. This is actually a treat for you guys. In the real world, you're usually working every day. You will accompany your Moroi everywhere—to class, to their dorms, to their feedings. Everything. It's up to you to figure out how you fit into their lives. Some Moroi interact with their guardians just like friends; some Moroi prefer you to be more of an invisible ghost who doesn't talk to them. Every situation is different, and you two will have to find a way to work it out to best ensure their safety. Attacks may come at anytime, anywhere, and we'll be dressed in all black when it happens. You should always be on your guard. Remember, even though you'll obviously know it's _us _doing the attacking and not real Strigoi, you should respond as though your lives are in terrible, immediate danger. Don't be afraid of hurting us. Some of you, I'm sure, won't have any qualms about getting us back for past grievances." The crowd laughed at this. "But some of you may feel like you have to hold back, for fear of getting in trouble. Don't. You'll get in more trouble if you do hold back. Don't worry. We can take it. You will be on duty twenty-four hours a day for your six-day cycles, but you may sleep during daylight when your Moroi does. Just be aware that although Strigoi attacks are rare in daylight, they aren't impossible indoors, and you will not necessarily be 'safe' during these."

Stan finished, and handed Alberta the clipboard. She got to announce the pairs.

"Okay," she said. "I'm going to call out your names one by one and announce who you're paired with. At that time, come down here to the floor, and Guardian Chase will give you a packet containing information about your Moroi's schedule, past, etcetera."

My eyes were trained on Rose. She looked excited, happy.

"Ryan Aylesworth," Alberta announced. "You are assigned to Camille Conta. Dean Barnes. You have Jesse Zeklos. Edison Castile. Vasilisa Dragomir."

Rose froze, and so did Eddie. They looked to each other, confused. Rose had a strange look on her face. I knew what was going through her mind. Mix up. Or maybe we'd screwed up and double assigned Lissa. But no, I knew it wasn't true. "Rosemarie Hathaway. Christian Ozera."

Rose simply stared. She was confused. She couldn't figure out what was going on. She didn't move, didn't stand.

"Rose Hathaway?" Alberta called.

The last novice had been assigned, and Rose cut through the crowd to Alberta and I. I knew it was coming. And I had hoped she would have had more self control.

Rose held up her packet, and pointed at it. "What's this?"

I repressed a sigh. This wouldn't go well.

"It's your assignment, Miss Hathaway," Alberta said.

"No," Rose gritted her teeth, anger and frustration written all over her face. "It's not. This is somebody else's assignment."

"The assignments in your field experience aren't optional," Alberta said, a note in her voice telling Rose to back down. "Just as your assignments in the real world won't be. You can't pick who you protect based on whim and mood, not here and certainly not after graduation."

"But after graduation, I'm going to be Lissa's guardian!" Rose shouted. "Everyone knows that. I'm supposed to have her for this thing."

"I know it's an accepted idea that you'll be together after graduation, but I do not recall any mandatory rulings that say you're 'supposed' to have her or anyone _here _at school. You take who you're assigned." Alberta declared.

"Christian?" Rose threw down the packet. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm guarding him."

"Rose!" I snapped. My voice was harsh, cold, distant. I had to keep a distance, before I felt too bad, and tried to get her assignment changed. "You're out of line. You do _not _speak to your instructors like that."

"Sorry. But this is stupid. Nearly as stupid as not bringing us to Victor Dashkov's trial."

Alberta feigned surprise. Rose didn't know she knew, about us. Or about anything for that matter. "How did you know—Never mind. We'll deal with that later. For now, this is your assignment, and you need to do it."

Eddie Castile had appeared beside Rose. "Look … I don't mind…. We can switch…."

Alberta looked at Eddie. "No, you certainly cannot. Vasilisa Dragomir is _your _assignment. And Christian Ozera is yours," she looked at Rose. "End of discussion."

"This is stupid! Why should I waste my time with Christian? Lissa's the one I'm going to be with when I graduate. Seems like if you want me to be able to do a good job, you should have me practice with her."

I butted in again. I knew this was going nowhere so far, and that I was going to have to speak up before this went a little too far, and Rose did something she would really regret. If I didn't stop this now, there was no telling when it would end. And we were all getting tired of this conversation. "You will do a good job with her. Because you know her. And you have your bond. But somewhere, someday, you could end up with a different Moroi. You need to learn how to guard someone with whom you have absolutely no experience."

"I have experience with Christian. That's the problem. I hate him." Rose grumbled. I knew that wasn't true. I knew that she cared about Christian in a way. In her own way. She cared about Lissa's happiness, and Christian was essential in securing that happiness. I knew he annoyed her, and I knew she would say anything to get Lissa as her assignment.

"So much the better," said Alberta. "Not everyone you protect will be your friend. Not everyone you protect will be someone you like. You need to learn this."

"I need to learn how to fight Strigoi," Rose argued. "I've learned that in class._ And _I've done it in person."

"There's more to this job than the technicalities, Miss Hathaway. There's a whole personal aspect—a bedside manner, if you will—that we don't touch on much in class. We teach you how to deal with the Strigoi. You need to learn how to deal with the Moroi yourselves. And _you _in particular need to deal with someone who has not been your best friend for years," Alberta told her.

Rose was arguing well. And there was no stopping her. Not if she got on a roll like this. There wasn't snapping her out of this, unless you could get her attention elsewhere, and that wasn't working. She was too worked up, and she was upset. Not thinking clearly.

"You also need to learn what it's like to work with someone when you can't instantly sense that they're in danger," I added. I knew it wasn't helping her, but I knew that if she was beat, she would be able to surrender, in a way.

"Right," agreed Alberta. "That's a handicap. If you want to be a good guardian—if you want to be an excellent guardian— then you need to do as we say."

She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off, trying to keep her from saying something stupid.

"Working with another Moroi will also help keep Lissa alive," I told her honestly.

That stopped her, as I knew it would. Something went out in her eyes, and she knew that we had her beat. That she had to give up now, because she couldn't win, she _wouldn't_ win. She knew it, her eyes told me.

"What do you mean?" Her voice had a different tone to it. It wasn't as hard.

"Lissa's got a handicap too—you. If she never has a chance to learn what it's like to be guarded by someone without a psychic connection, she could be at greater risk if attacked. Guarding someone is really a two-person relationship. This assignment for your field experience is as much for her as for you."

She didn't speak for a few moments. She processed the information, and she knew that I was right.

"And," added Alberta, "it's the only assignment you're going to get. If you don't take it, then you opt out of the field experience."

She leaned down, and picked up the packet from the floor. "Fine," her voice was cold. She didn't want to admit she'd been beaten. She wanted to go out in a way that would look like she gave in because she wanted to. And I would let her do that. "I'll do this. But I want it noted that I'm doing this against my will."

I wanted to laugh. She thought we didn't know that already. I rolled my eyes and kept on my guardian mask.

"I think we already figured that out, Miss Hathaway," Alberta frowned.

"Whatever. I still think it's a horrible idea, and you eventually will too," Rose turned, and stormed off. I sighed.

"What do you think she means by that?" Alberta asked me.

"I'm not sure. But it'll be something she can't get caught for, or something that she won't get in trouble for. I'm going for the 'won't get caught for' because that just seems like her," I said.

"I think you're right. I just hope it's not too stupid," Alberta frowned.

"I hope so too, but this is Rose. She wanted the Princess, but that would have been a bad decision for the both of them, and she knows it."

"Yes. She does."

I walked off, to my room, to get a shower, and go for my shift.

**Chapter two is done!  
Review please?**


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